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Daily Light's Morning Reading
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.—JAS. 2:26.
Not every one that saith, . . . Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.—Holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.—Add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.
By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.
Spurgeon's Morning Reading
“For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth.”
3 John 3
The truth was in Gaius, and Gaius walked in the truth. If the first had not been the case, the second could never have occurred; and if the second could not be said of him the first would have been a mere pretence. Truth must enter into the soul, penetrate and saturate it, or else it is of no value. Doctrines held as a matter of creed are like bread in the hand, which ministers no nourishment to the frame; but doctrine accepted by the heart, is as food digested, which, by assimilation, sustains and builds up the body. In us truth must be a living force, an active energy, an indwelling reality, a part of the woof and warp of our being. If it be in us, we cannot henceforth part with it. A man may lose his garments or his limbs, but his inward parts are vital, and cannot be torn away without absolute loss of life. A Christian can die, but he cannot deny the truth. Now it is a rule of nature that the inward affects the outward, as light shines from the centre of the lantern through the glass: when, therefore, the truth is kindled within, its brightness soon beams forth in the outward life and conversation. It is said that the food of certain worms colours the cocoons of silk which they spin: and just so the nutriment upon which a man’s inward nature lives gives a tinge to every word and deed proceeding from him. To walk in the truth, imports a life of integrity, holiness, faithfulness, and simplicity—the natural product of those principles of truth which the gospel teaches, and which the Spirit of God enables us to receive. We may judge of the secrets of the soul by their manifestation in the man’s conversation. Be it ours today, O gracious Spirit, to be ruled and governed by thy divine authority, so that nothing false or sinful may reign in our hearts, lest it extend its malignant influence to our daily walk among men.
Old Testament Chapter a Day - Ezekiel 9
9. Idolaters Killed
The Slaughter of the Idolaters
9
Then he cried in my hearing with a loud voice, saying, “Draw near, you executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand.”2And six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his weapon for slaughter in his hand; among them was a man clothed in linen, with a writing case at his side. They went in and stood beside the bronze altar.
3 Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub on which it rested to the threshold of the house. The Lord called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his side;4and said to him, “Go through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of those who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.”5To the others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and kill; your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity.6Cut down old men, young men and young women, little children and women, but touch no one who has the mark. And begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were in front of the house.7Then he said to them, “Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. Go!” So they went out and killed in the city.8While they were killing, and I was left alone, I fell prostrate on my face and cried out, “Ah Lord God! will you destroy all who remain of Israel as you pour out your wrath upon Jerusalem?”9He said to me, “The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is full of bloodshed and the city full of perversity; for they say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see.’10As for me, my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity, but I will bring down their deeds upon their heads.”
11 Then the man clothed in linen, with the writing case at his side, brought back word, saying, “I have done as you commanded me.”
New Testament in Four Years - Matthew 12:38-42
12. Lord of the Sabbath
The Sign of Jonah
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.”39But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.40For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so for three days and three nights the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth.41The people of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and see, something greater than Jonah is here!42The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something greater than Solomon is here!
Psalm a Day - Psalm 109:16-31
109. Psalm 109
16
For he did not remember to show kindness,
but pursued the poor and needy
and the brokenhearted to their death.
17
He loved to curse; let curses come on him.
He did not like blessing; may it be far from him.
18
He clothed himself with cursing as his coat,
may it soak into his body like water,
like oil into his bones.
19
May it be like a garment that he wraps around himself,
like a belt that he wears every day.”
20
May that be the reward of my accusers from the Lord,
of those who speak evil against my life.
21
But you, O Lord my Lord,
act on my behalf for your name’s sake;
because your steadfast love is good, deliver me.
22
For I am poor and needy,
and my heart is pierced within me.
23
I am gone like a shadow at evening;
I am shaken off like a locust.
24
My knees are weak through fasting;
my body has become gaunt.
25
I am an object of scorn to my accusers;
when they see me, they shake their heads.
26
Help me, O Lord my God!
Save me according to your steadfast love.
27
Let them know that this is your hand;
you, O Lord, have done it.
28
Let them curse, but you will bless.
Let my assailants be put to shame; may your servant be glad.
29
May my accusers be clothed with dishonor;
may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a mantle.
30
With my mouth I will give great thanks to the Lord;
I will praise him in the midst of the throng.
31
For he stands at the right hand of the needy,
to save them from those who would condemn them to death.